Say Anything
by DarkStarShadow
Summary: Set After Stranger Within II. Madison's been silent for the longest time about how she feels about Chip. Can his heroic saving of Vida give her the courage to say something? ChipMadison oneshot.


"Break time, guys!" Xander shouted in the most excited tone his voice could muster as noontime arrived at the Rockporium. Lunchtime was a cherished time to the Mystic Force crew, as they could quickly zip over to the Rootcore for a spell before grabbing a sandwich. Nick was always out the door first, followed by Chip, Madison, Vida, then Xander, who was usually so attached to his lounge chair that it took him forever to get back up.

However, Xander was first out the door that day, as Nick was busy stacking albums in alphabetical order. Vida, who was still recovering from the lecture she got the night before from her parents barring her strange night outings while she was a vampire, was now too busy catching up on DJ'ing and lollipops to think about lunch.

As Chip began to walk out the door, Madison perked up from behind the register. _Now remember, vigilance! Courage! Don't flake! _"Chip, wait!" Madison shouted, startling everybody in the store. _Oh, perfect Maddie. Just perfect._

"Yeah?" Chip said, seemingly unfazed by Madison's outburst.

"Are you going out for lunch, or are you going to study for Miss Rightland's test?" Madison asked, tucking her hair nervously behind her left ear. The crew had found a method to speak in public about magic, using the name of Briarwood High's rigorous math teacher's name as a euphemism for Udonna.

"Ugh, I was gonna go down to the deli and grab a quick bite…if you wanna come with, I don't mind."

"Sure!" Madison said, walking out from behind the cash register. _Calm, smooth, everything is fine, nobody is staring. Everything is fine, Maddie. Why are you so nervous? Pull yourself together!_

As they walked down the street, Madison grabbed her right arm and pulled it closer to herself, making sure it didn't hit Chip's arm. _Am I insane? This is Chip, my friend from as far back as I can remember. I should not be so afraid. This isn't like Ben. I know Chip. I can expect his every mo-_

"Are you okay, Maddie?" Chip asked, stopping midway down the second block. Madison jumped weakly in shock and took a breath.

"What do you mean?" She replied, her voice shaking. _Okay, so I wasn't expecting that. Oh hell. Well, that blew my theory out of the water._

"You're shaking like a leaf, and you've gotten really pale…" Chip replied, giving her a concerned stare. He then reached into his jean pocket and whipped out his mini garlic vajra, shoving it in Madison's face. Madison stared at it, then stared at Chip, who then stuck the vajra back into his pocket with a goofy grin. "Just making sure."

Madison let out a quick laugh before they continued down the street. _Just a block and a half to go until you get to the deli, Maddie. Then you can get your sandwich and forget about everything._ She saw the Baker Street Deli in front of her, less than half a block away now, and coming closer. _Oh, who am I kidding? I have to speak up, say something! I can't concentrate on anything if I stay shy and silent forever…_

"Hey Chip?" Madison said weakly as her nails dug lightly into her arm in sheer terror.

"Yeah?" Chip replied, stopping once more and turning to face Madison.

"I…I was wondering…" She smiled weakly, then began to grind the toe section of her left shoe into the ground in a nervous twitch. _Out with it, Rocca! You have his attention!_ "I was wondering…it's a nice day outside…and the deli has a patio…"

"Oh, you read my mind!" Chip replied.

"I…I did?" Madison asked in confusion.

"I was thinking of having my lunch outside on the patio. I was actually just about to ask you if you minded. Guess I don't have to ask ya now."

"Yeah." Madison sighed a breath of relief as they once again walked towards the deli.

A couple was leaving the deli's patio just as they arrived, and Chip spotted a girl who was about to take the table. Chip grabbed Madison's arm and half-dragged her as he sped to the table and quickly sat her down in the closest chair. The girl stared at Chip and Madison, which made Madison even more nervous.

"I'll get us a menu, just stay there." Chip said before turning around and calmly walking inside.

"Geez, your boyfriend's a spaz." The girl replied, giving Madison a look of pity before turning a glare out on Chip.

"Oh, he's not my boyfriend." Madison replied, blushing. "And he's not a spaz. He just wanted the table."

"Whatever." The girl scoffed before walking into the deli. She purposely bumped into Chip as they met in the doorway, knocking him into the doorframe. Chip looked back at her as he approached the table.

"Wow, somebody's in a bad mood today…" Chip said, giving a humored look. He sat the menu in front of Madison and waited patiently as Madison looked it over. After a minute or so, Madison had made her decision, and she slid the menu back over to him.

"Here, I'm done." Madison said.

"Oh, I always get the same thing." Chip replied. "Hold on a sec." He got up, menu in hand, and walked back inside.

He walked out with a waitress following him, who arrived at the table with a smile. "Hi there! What can I get you two?" The waitress said softly.

"I'll have a turkey sandwich on rye with a Coke." Chip rapidly responded. He then turned to Madison. "You?"

"I uh…" Her choices evaded her for a moment as she froze in fear. _C'mon, it's okay…just say it. The worst Chip can do is give you a weird look._ "I'll have a garden salad with French dressing, a small order of fries, and a lemonade." She felt like she was drifting from the table, and in response, she wrapped her right ankle around the closest table leg.

The waitress smiled as she finished writing down the order, then walked inside. _Alone, we're alone, and he's right there. Why can't I say anything?_ Madison raised her left hand up to her hair and, with the hair tie around her left wrist, tied her hair back. She bit her lip in silence, swallowing to rid herself of the lump in her throat. _Just say his name and go from there, Maddie. Vida would never have this trouble talking to anybody…_ "Chip…?"

"Hm?" Chip asked as he looked down from cloud gazing.

"Um…I wanted to…um…say how…" _No, no, no! I'm bombing! This is horrible! _"how thankful I am…for you helping Vida…" _There, nice headway…keep it going…_

"Oh, that was nothing." Chip blushed as he scratched the back of his neck. "I would've done the same thing for anybody, I mean, that's what heroes do, right?"

"Well, I mean…you stuck to what you thought, and it saved my sister, and I'm grateful for that." _Okay, nice catch. _Madison sighed happily. _Okay, so I said that…do I wait for him to reply?_

"Well, I'm just glad that she's okay now. She seems to be herself again…I was really worried that I wasn't gonna finish making the crystal in time, and that we'd lose her…" Chip looked a bit down as he went on, a look that was unusual for him. "I wouldn't want to fight any of my friends like that again…"

"Neither would I. She kicks pretty hard." Madison replied, laughing weakly.

"At least she didn't knock bruises on you." Chip replied with a morbid-looking smile, one that gave the impression that he was trying to smile while wincing.

"Oh, are you okay?" _Ah, I can sound caring and not come off as creepy or clingy. Finally._

"Yeah, she didn't do too much damage…I'm just gonna have a couple black and blue spots for a few days. The guys in the locker room're gonna think I got in a fight…" Chip then gave a humored look. "Well, I did, didn't I? Ha, and I'm alive to tell about it! Sweet."

Madison laughed. _Ugh, Chip is so corny…_

"So, what's on your mind, Maddie?"

"Huh?"

"Ever since we beat You-Know-Who, you've been floating off into space. Are you okay? I mean, you're usually kinda distant, but you've been a lot more so in the last few days, especially with me."

"Oh…" _Madison Caroline Rocca, you stupid girl, you let him in, and you didn't know…_Madison winced a bit. "Um…well, I…I've just been thinking a lot…"

"Whatcha thinking about?" _Is he…interested in my thoughts…for real…?_

"I've been thinking about you…" _Oh no, um…no! Stick with this…wait, no! Ugh…Yes, c'mon Maddie…this isn't chess; there aren't a million moves you could make on your own…_"I mean…I've been think of how you…" _Mean…so much…_"you've changed." _No! Ugh…_ "Not that that's a bad thing, but I mean…you're different." _Good, good…go back to where you were…_"Not a bad kind…of different…but…like…more…" _Charming? Intelligent? Amazing? What's the word I'm looking for…?_ "mature." _No! That's not the word I'm looking for!_ "Wait, that's not what I meant…I mean…wait, um…you have gotten a lot more mature since we…got our powers and all…but, that's not the word I'm looking for…"

"Well, thanks, I guess…" Chip replied. The waitress arrived with their lunches. _Oh thank goodness. Must chew on fries before my teeth rebel, move up inside my head, and eat my brain. Great, now I'm mentally dialoguing like Chip._

After nearly two minutes of Madison nervously nibbling on fries, Chip spoke up. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah…"

"You're really afraid of me, aren't you?" Madison looked up at him, but she couldn't read his expression. It was the first time she had ever been afraid of a question that he was asking her.

"I'm not afraid of you! Why would I be?"

"You're afraid to talk to me. I don't know…it's just a surreal feeling, I guess." He looked down at his sandwich, but instead took a sip of his soda.

"I just…I have things I want to say to you, but I can't say them."

"I see." Chip nodded. "Do you want me to help you?"

"If you'd like." _Oh, I hope he says it before me…_

"Alright." Chip exhaled heavily as he sat up. "Okay, you start."

"I…I really…ad…ad…" _Adore! Adore! C'mon!_

"Ad…mire? Admire?"

"Yes! Admire!" _Close enough._

"You admire what?"

"I really admire…you…what…I…" _Where has my courage gone…? I've been planning this for days…_

"What I…what I wear?" Chip asked, looking down at his shirt quickly before looking back up at Madison.

"No…what I…admire about you is that…you…" _Are amazing! Darn it, voice, work!_ Madison gave a frustrated look.

"What I…what I…what I what? I'm stumped." Chip frowned.

"What you…do…all…"

"What I do…all?"

"All the things you do!" _Yes! Yes! Holy crap, yes!_

"Really?" Chip asked, blushing and smiling. "Um…thanks." After a few moments, his giddy expression turned to one of confusion. "Wait, what is it that I do that you admire oh so much?" He cocked his right eyebrow in a sort of sly expression. Madison blushed and, out of habit, tucked what had fallen out of her ponytail on the right side back behind her right ear.

_Oh god, that smile…don't let him lose it…_ "You're good…with magic…and you're really smart…and you're really good at spells…" She quickly frowned, then rebounded. "Ugh, I said that already…"

"So you're saying that you admire my great magical skills?" Chip asked with an impressed tone.

"Yeah!" _Along with everything else, yeah…_

"Well, if I knew that's what you wanted to say, I would've stopped you long ago!" Chip smiled.

_Oh, this has gone to hell…_"Yeah…" Madison sighed heavily in defeat, turning her attention back to her salad. The rest of the meal went along silently as their break time slowly ticked away. _I'll never get over being shy. I can't even tell one of my best friends how I feel about him…I can't touch him…I can't look at him…I definitely can't speak to him…I'm pathetic. I mean…I had the perfect chance…he did something for my sister, and it could've been all, "Thanks for saving my sister from a horrible vampiric fate. By the way, have I ever mentioned how smart you are and how I've adored you since middle school and the only reason I didn't go to the prom with you was because Rickie had just been dumped and I wanted to cheer him up? I hope you don't think I'm saying this because of you saving Vida, because I really do like you, and I'd hope that you liked me like that too. And if you don't, that's okay, because all I wanted was a chance to tell you how I feel. If you don't like me that way, I hope we could still be friends…is that okay with you, Chip?" You know, would it kill me to even say a tiny bit of that?_

"Madison, is that salad any good?" Chip asked, knocking Madison out of her thoughts.

"Hm?"

"You've been poking the same piece of lettuce for almost five minutes."

She looked down; all she had managed to do was knock a quarter of the salad off her plate and gouge a tomato to a point where it wouldn't ever stick to a fork again.

"Oh. It's fine…I just filled up on fries and lemonade." Madison replied. Chip smiled back and finished off his sandwich before he pawed a few of Madison's fries. "C'mon, eat up. We can't have you crashing during an epic battle against the demons of the underworld." Chip replied with a soft grin. Madison smiled back and finished off what she hadn't mangled of the salad, and finished off her lemonade, leaving Chip to finish off her fries.

As break time was coming to an end, Chip and Madison split their bill and headed back to the Rockporium. About halfway there, Chip suddenly laid his arm across Madison's shoulders. She gave him an awkward look, and he seemed to notice it.

"You know what I was thinking just now?" Chip asked in a serious tone that seemed almost foreign to his voice.

"What?"

"About what you said…about me being more mature."

"Oh."

"And I was thinking the same about you."

"Huh?"

"Really, you have. I mean…you were afraid to say what's on your mind, and yet you went to great lengths to tell me about what you were thinking. I don't think you would have done that a few months ago. In fact, I can bet that, a few months ago, you would've begged to change the subject until I did."

Chip looked at her and smiled, and Madison reflected the smile back.

_Ya know what? He's right. Maybe we both have grown up a little bit…maybe we all have…_

Madison smiled as they arrived at the Rockporium. Chip pulled his arm off her shoulders as the walked in the door. Just as she walked over to the register, Chip grabbed her wrist and cupped his hand over her ear. "I know what you were really trying to say…and it makes me feel wonderful to know that we think alike." Madison looked over at him with a deer-in-headlights look, and he smiled as he let go of her wrist and walked back over to the discount section that was in dire need of reorganizing. Madison blushed as she walked over to Vida, who was lounging in Xander's chair since Xander was still out.

"So, how was lunch?" Vida asked, giving her a sly look.

"_I'll tell you everything when we get home." Madison replied with a smile._


End file.
